The present invention relates to equipment for lubricating and cleaning chain conveyors and more particularly to such equipment using compressed air.
Chain conveyors commonly are used in a wide variety of industries, such as paint lines, bottling/canning lines, and can manufacturing. To increase the life of a chain conveyor, it is necessary to intermittently lubricate and to clean the chain. Unfortunately, any excess lubricant will collect on the chain. The excess lubricant slings off during travel, contaminating the conveyed articles and/or their contents. In addition, dirt will collect on the chain conveyor, bonding with the excess lubricant.
It is known in the art to use pressurized air to blow excess lubricant and contaminants off the chain of the conveyor. An example of this technique is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,712, issued Dec. 23, 1986 to Hoseley and entitled, "Automatic Chain Lubricating System." However, the pressurized air blows the oil and contaminants in all directions, thus creating a mess.